Three Graphics Cards to Choose From - Please Rate Them

[bad_ronald]

I would appreciate it if anyone who knows a thing or two about video cards could rate the following three graphics cards that I am considering for a new computer (please don't suggest any other cards, as these three are the only ones available through my university's offer).

Background:
I would like the graphics card to be able to do the following thigs:
1. Play Civ 4 at the highest quality (and do it well )
2. Play Rise of Nations at the highest detail at 60fps
3. Do a good job at playing recent PC games (high end 3D games)
4. Not be obsolete very soon

The Cards: (I will be typing the descriptions verbatim)
1. 128MB DDR SDRAM ATI Radeon X600 Pro
2. 256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) nVidia GeForce 6800
3. 256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon™ X850 XT PE

Note: I suspect that the Radeon X600 might not be up to snuff, but I was hoping that the GeForce would be okay (the Radeon X850 is a tad expensive).

Please be as detailed as you can stand .

 

[Zakharov]

Note: I suspect that the Radeon X600 might not be up to snuff, but I was hoping that the GeForce would be okay (the Radeon X850 is a tad expensive).

I think you have answered your own question.

The X850 XT PE is clearly the best card of the three, but is also the most expensive by a fair margin. The X600 definitely won't meet all four of your conditions. If you go with the 6800 I don't think you will be disappointed. It may not be as quick as the X850, but it does offer support for Shader Model 3.0 so it could potentially last you that little bit longer.

What type of memory does the 6800 use, DDR or DDR3? Most 6800s, (including mine), only come with 128MB of DDR so that 256MB is a bonus. Also, do you know what the clock speeds are? How much are these cards?

 

[bad_ronald]

What type of memory does the 6800 use, DDR or DDR3? Most 6800s, (including mine), only come with 128MB of DDR so that 256MB is a bonus. Also, do you know what the clock speeds are? How much are these cards?

The 6800 uses DDR, and the Radeon X850 uses DDR3. I clicked on the "tech specs" link, to attempt to get the clock speeds, but unfortunately there were three measurements rated in MHz and I don't know which one you're after...

The 6800's "Controller Speed" is 325MHz, it's "On Board Memory Speed" is 300MHz, and its "RAMDAC" is Dual 400MHz. The X850's "Controller Speed" is 540MHz, it's "On Board Memory Speed" is 590MHz, and its "RAMDAC" is also Dual 400MHz.

I don't know the prices in absolute terms, it's set up so that when you choose to upgrade to a better component it lists how much more it will cost you. To go from the X600 to the 6800 costs $114, to go from the X600 to the X850 costs $378.

 

[Zakharov]

The price difference between the X600 and 6800 is about right. The X800 seems very expensive though. I asked about the price because it may have been worth getting the X800 if it was good value, but it looks like it isn't.

After looking around it seems that having 256MB of DDR is fairly common on the PCI-E versions of the 6800.

I was asking about the clock speeds to see which version of the 6800 is listed. It seems to be a standard 6800 and not a 6800LE (which isn't as good). You can check this by looking at the number of pixel and vertex shader pipelines. 12p 5v = 6800 and 8p 4v = 6800LE.

If there are no other available cards between the 6800 and the X800 XT PE then I think you will be happy with the 6800.

 

[Dida]

the three cards that you listed are not even in the same league. it all depends on your budget. the X850 is clearly the best and most expensive.

 

[Dr. Yoshi]

6800 GT or just regular 6800?

If regular go for the X850 if not go for the GT.

 

[bad_ronald]

the three cards that you listed are not even in the same league. it all depends on your budget. the X850 is clearly the best and most expensive.

Well, of course.

6800 GT or just regular 6800?

It's not GT.

For the sake of argument assume that I would have to:

1. Go from a 80 GB SATA 10,000 RPM Hard Drive -> 160 GB SATA 7,200 RPM
2. Go from a second 250 GB SATA 7,200 RPM Hard Drive -> Nothing
3. Go from 1 GB DDR2 RAM @ 667 MHz -> 1 GB DDR2 RAM @ 534 MHz

In order to have the X850 fit my budget.

So which is preferable: the 2,800 RPM increase in hard drive speed [1] and the 133 MHz increase in RAM clock speed, or the improvement gained from the X850 over the 6800?

1. For the sake of this comparison ignore the ovbious 170 GB loss in available space, as it won't affect the system's performance.

 

[Black_Hole]

Well, of course.
It's not GT.

For the sake of argument assume that I would have to:

1. Go from a 80 GB SATA 10,000 RPM Hard Drive -> 160 GB SATA 7,200 RPM
2. Go from a second 250 GB SATA 7,200 RPM Hard Drive -> Nothing
3. Go from 1 GB DDR2 RAM @ 667 MHz -> 1 GB DDR2 RAM @ 534 MHz

In order to have the X850 fit my budget.

So which is preferable: the 2,800 RPM increase in hard drive speed [1] and the 133 MHz increase in RAM clock speed, or the improvement gained from the X850 over the 6800?

1. For the sake of this comparison ignore the ovbious 170 GB loss in available space, as it won't affect the system's performance.

if you plan on mostly gaming take the x850...

 

[Comraddict]

Well, of course.
It's not GT.

For the sake of argument assume that I would have to:

1. Go from a 80 GB SATA 10,000 RPM Hard Drive -> 160 GB SATA 7,200 RPM
2. Go from a second 250 GB SATA 7,200 RPM Hard Drive -> Nothing
3. Go from 1 GB DDR2 RAM @ 667 MHz -> 1 GB DDR2 RAM @ 534 MHz

In order to have the X850 fit my budget.

So which is preferable: the 2,800 RPM increase in hard drive speed [1] and the 133 MHz increase in RAM clock speed, or the improvement gained from the X850 over the 6800?

1. For the sake of this comparison ignore the ovbious 170 GB loss in available space, as it won't affect the system's performance.

Erm, you are forgotting that all 3 cards have different number pf parallel pixel piplines, which is as important (or even more important) than raw clock speed.
x600 has 4 or 8, doesn't matter it is way slower than other two
6800 has 12
x800 xt has 16.
Therefore 16 pipelines at 540MHz is way faster than 12 at 350MHz.

Also what needs to be taken in account is memory bus width, x600 has 128-bt while other two have 256-bit, making last two to have at least 100% more mem bandwidth.

 

[CruddyLeper]

The X850 XT PE is the most expensive for a good reason. It's the best.

HOWEVER, be wary about buying a "bargain" one. Sometimes people just clock X800's and sell them as the real thing.

The 6800 is quite a good card, but will get obsolete a lot quicker than the X850.